As the title says could I safely replace my stock 2wd coils with 05-07 4x4 front coils? I've got a 2002 2wd Ex. I'm eventually going to do a 4x4 conversion with a Dana 60 once I gather all the parts, but for the time being I wanted to see if could upgrade my suspension before the conversion. If I remember correctly the coil buckets are different from the 2wd to 4x4. However if I install the 4x4 coils with shocks would it cause stability issues or anything like that? Also are 08+ and 05-07 coil springs and coil buckets interchangeable?

I don't want any "Just sell your truck and buy a 4x4" replies, because that's not an option.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

The 4x4 coils will fit but will provide about a 4" lift for you in the front... You'd need to replace the I beam and radius arm brackets as well as lower the sway bar in order for the geometry to work right.

I tried doing this same thing but it wasn't going to work right so I got a pro comp lift kit to do it right.

 

I knew about the lift, which is something I want since the 2wd sit so damn low. I was contemplating the procomp lift, but I figured since I am already planning on doing a 4x4 conversion I should use the respective springs.

So would you know if the 08+ springs are interchangeable with the 05-07? I see plenty of 08+ stock suspensions on craigslist/ebay, but rarely 05-07

 

I believe they're the same but don't have experience with them hands on. The 4x4 springs I have are from an '11 or '12 and would have fit just fine on my '01 2wd except for the geometry change

 

Oh so they would fit in the 2wd stock coil buckets without modifications?

 

You will at the very least need an adjustable camber bolt kit installed. They had no problems aligning mine with 2" leveling kit and camber bolts. The alignment tech seemed to think that even with an additional 2 more inches and even more camber that he still would have been able to align with no problem

 

Is there any particular size on camber bolts I would need? I'm not particularly familiar with camber bolts

 

I looked into this for another board member and my conclusion was that the springs were wrapped differently (pigtail). I never had the two springs in hand so I can't say if it would still work but on paper it didn't look like it. I'm curious to see what you find out.

 

With that much lift your upper ball joint will be at it's limit and not really allow proper movement.
Folks that use a 2" coil spring spacer have done grinding on the area around the ball joint to prevent rubbing, but movement is still compromised.

 

This!!

I went through this exact thing. Even after grinding off a lot of metal, the upper ball joint limited movement and wouldn't allow for proper camber adjustment. Just get the ProComp lift and do it right. Save yourself a bunch of time and headaches.

 

If you are going to do the 4x4 conversion why bother lifting it in 2wd ? Save the time and money and just do it once.

You could even do the conversion is 2 stages. Suspension and axle first, then do the transfer case and drivelines next. Check with the local shops that do lifts, I bet they have take off parts from guys who lifted their 05+ trucks.
( back when I did mine I gave my stock parts away free to a guy doing a conversion )

 

Yeah I think that's what I'll do. Start with the front drive train, then when I'm ready install the tranny, transfer case and drive shafts.

That's a great idea, I'll ask my local shops! Thanks